Tag: Concerned Citizens of Northwood

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Northwood Gives the Bridge the OK

At the Northwood Civic meeting on Tuesday, April 20, president Barry Howell noted that both the Northwood Civic Association and the Juniata Civic Association have signed off on the community agreement with the Bridge.  That agreement will be submitted to the zoning board and become part of the public record.  Frankford Civic will make a decision at its meeting on May5th.

Northwood Academy Charter school has obtained zoning approval for construction of a new additional building on the existing property on Castor Avenue.

Tony Payton announced that there has been some progress in finding a new use for the Frankford Y building and further news will be released when the deal has been finalized.

Joanne Ryles, representing the Concerned Citizens of Northwood addressed the group with an appeal for support.  They meet the second Thursday of each month at Simpson Playground.  Barry said that Northwood will take a more active role in working with the group because of the proximity to Northwood.  Problems spill over.

The VOA house issue is being re-evaluated based on its current use as a residence.  The end strategy is to bring the use of the property into compliance with the deed restriction.

Next month’s meeting will be moved to May 10th due to election day.  Darrell Clarke will be at the meeting.

 

 

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Northwood Civic Association Meeting

Well the crowd was smaller than it usually is on Tuesday night.  But rain + election day + Phillies + Flyers might have had something to do with it.

The War Memorial at Frankford Stadium was a topic of discussion. One of the bronze plaques had fallen from the memorial back in February.  Since that time the School District and the city have replaced it and then decided to clean all the metal.  Here are the before and after pictures.  You can click on the image to get a better view.

Barry Howell attended a meeting of the Concerned Citizens of Northwood at Simpson Playground last Tuesday.  Barry related that people attending that meeting spoke of being besieged by gang activity, bad section 8 tenants, parking issues and drugs in their back driveways.  Barry reiterated that the Northwood Civic is going to address these quality of life issues beyond the deed restricted areas of Northwood.  He will be discussing the issue with Councilman Darrel Clarke.

A meeting was to be held with the new operators of the Frankford Y to work out a community relations agreement.  The civic supports their effort to turn this now empty building into an asset for the community.  As long as they are going in that direction the community should support them.

In June the Civic will begin negotiations with Cancer Treatment Centers of America on the renewal of the community relations agreement.  The focus of this new agreement will be on jobs and investment in the Northwood community.

Some people at the meeting complained about people in pickup trucks trolling the rear driveways of blocks looking for trash and anything else that may be handy.  When they are around things seem to turn up missing.  There is talk of needing a town watch to keep an eye on the streets.  Barry encouraged anyone who would like to start a community town watch to contact him and he will put them in touch with the right people.

Final discussion related to the problem of L&I not enforcing zoning board decisions.  If the Civic wins a decision in zoning and the property owners ignore that decision, what does it take to get the city to enforce that decision.  The process is long and tedious and meanwhile the property owners goes on without penalty.

The next Northwood Civic Association meeting is scheduled for June 15th.  Seth Williams the District Attorney, has agreed to attend the Civic meeting.  Bring your complaints and take this opportunity to sound off on what is happening to your community.